Electricity

ARTICLES ABOUT ELECTRICITY BY DATE - PAGE 2

TOKYO: Green-car sceptics take note: Japan now has more electric vehicle charging spots than gas stations. The country's number-two automaker Nissan says there are now 40,000 charging units -- including those inside private homes -- across the nation, compared with 34,000 petrol stations. While gas stations have multiple pumps and can service many more cars, the figures underscore efforts to boost green-vehicle infrastructure in Japan, long a leader in a sector that remains tiny globally.

TOKYO: Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) wants to use more short-term or spot fuel contracts to become more flexible and benefit from a plunge in energy prices, the company's president said. His comments followed Tepco's announcement last week that it and Chubu Electric Power Co may combine their fossil-fuel plants under a joint venture to be set up in April. The venture would handle fuel procurement, investment in gas and other upstream developments, and some areas of power generation to lower costs.

Apple Inc has a secret lab working on the creation of an Apple-branded electric car , the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The project has designed a vehicle that looks like a minivan, the newspaper quoted one person as saying. It would take years to finish the project, and it is not certain if Apple will eventually build a car, the Journal said. The news signals that Apple is sharply raising its ambitions for automotive technology, which has become a prime area of interest for Silicon Valley companies ranging from Google Inc to ride-sharing firm Uber to electric car-maker Tesla Motors Inc. The connected car, or vehicles with a full range of Internet and software services beyond mere navigation and communications, is considered one of the ripest areas for expansion for technology companies.

CHICAGO: General Motors Co said Thursday it will build a compact electric car at an assembly plant near Detroit, where it will invest $200 million for the project. Alan Batey, GM's North American president, said in a speech at the Chicago auto show that for now the compact is called the Bolt, but that name may change before it goes on sale. The Chevrolet Bolt was shown as a concept vehicle at the Detroit auto show last month. It is designed to have a range of 200 miles, and will cost about $30,000 after tax breaks in the US market.

WASHINGTON: General Electric Co. changed its bylaws earlier this month to create an easier path for shareholders to nominate directors to its corporate board, the company disclosed in a filing on Wednesday. Under the new rules, a single shareholder or a group of up to 20 shareholders who own more than 3 per cent of the company's stock for at least three years will be allowed to nominate up to 20 per cent of the board's directors.

TOKYO: Tokyo Electric Power Co and Chubu Electric Power Co said on Monday they may combine their fossil-fuel plants under a joint venture they are setting up from April to handle their fuel procurement and related businesses. The announcement means the companies, the biggest and third biggest of Japan's 10 regional electricity utilities, are deepening the planned joint venture to cut fuel procurement and other costs in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. ($1 = 108.64 Japanese yen)

In a chat with ET Now, Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com, shares his views on Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd ET Now: What is your call on Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd? Ashwani Gujral: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is a 'SELL' call with a target of Rs 255 and a stop loss of Rs 272.

MUMBAI: The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel) has upheld the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's (CERC) order declaring Financial Technologies, or FTIL, unfit to own shares in or run Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). The tribunal order comes a day ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing of FTIL appeal against a Bombay High Court verdict upholding commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission's order stating that FTIL was not fit and proper to run exchanges. The FMC order of December 17, 2013, came months after a Rs 5,600-crore scam surfaced at the National Spot Exchange (NSEL)

HYDERABAD: Japanese giant Fuji Electric has agreed to set up a smart grid near Andhra Pradesh's new capital city to help the state government to monitor the energy consumption and forecast the demand, aimed at developing an efficient energy management system. The Japanese company officials had earlier met the chief minister Chandrababu Naidu during his Japan visit in November last week and expressed willingness to help AP in building forecasting mechanisms. Fuji had already committed to conduct a feasibility study on smart energy grid for Panipat in Haryana.

NEW DELHI: Amendments to the Electricity Act, to bring in various reforms including to improve power supply and enable consumers to choose their supplier, should come into effect by April, Power Minister Piyush Goyal today said. Speaking at a TERI event, the minister said, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha in December, last year, will become law by April. The proposed amendments to the existing Act will promote competition, efficiency, and improvement in the supply of electricity in the country resulting in capacity addition and benefit to the consumers.